


35mm Sweetheart

by chanyeols_domme



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Photographer, College Student Suh Youngho | Johnny, Dom/sub, Dominant Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Dominant Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Established Relationship, Financial Issues, Korean-American Character, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Sub Suh Youngho | Johnny, designer!suho, not quite a sugardaddy!au, photographer!Xiumin, photographer!johnny, scholarships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:42:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22999396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanyeols_domme/pseuds/chanyeols_domme
Summary: Johnny is in London for one exchange semester, but studying photography at UAL turns out to be more expensive than he thought and suddenly he has to find a new place to stay. Luckily the attractive guy in the bubble tea shop near campus helps him out, giving life advice and overly sweet boba. Even more attractive than bubble-tea guy are his friends tough when Johnny meets them his life gets turned upside down.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/ Suh Youngho | Johnny, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Suh Youngho | Johnny/ Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Suh Youngho | Johnny/ Kim Minseok | Xiumin/ Kim Junmyeon | Suho
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. April

**Author's Note:**

> Hello,  
> no one asked for this, but that doesn't mean you don't need it. This was inspired by that goddammed moment Johnny was on this show with Minseok and Jongdae and the "oh daddy" thing happened. I sort of went from there.  
> A few warnings: I don't actually know how scholarships work, but it had to be like that for the story. Johnny struggles with money and is quite careless about it in the beginning. It might be triggering for some, but I don't think it's bad enough to get a proper warning.  
> Anyways, if anyone ever reads this story I hope you like it.

Johnny was waiting in line in the tiny bubble tea store near the university buildings. He came here almost every day he had a short break between courses, usually to study but today he just wanted some time to think. It was a nice tiny place, there was barely enough room for more than 5 people in it. The walls were painted in bubblegum pink and the owner had installed an astonishing amount of ivy in pink pots hanging off the ceiling in macrame nets. Johnny loved this place, it had made him feel home when the clinically set up dorms couldn't.

"I'm so happy for you, Johnny, but we cannot afford this semester, sweetheart." That's what his mom had said and deep down he had known. Deep down he had known that his parents wouldn't be able to spend the fee of 23 grand on an exchange semester in Europe. But he had thought he would just spend all of his savings and then find a job. But finding a job in a district full of students was harder than finding Narnia. His university had a few ideas for situations like his, but sooner or later they would ask for the money and he won't be able to give it to them. 

"I'll figure something out, but I have to go to Europe. This semester will help me in the future because they have amazing professors. I'll manage, mom."  
She had cried and he had held her, but he wanted to do this. He had been thinking about this since he was fifteen. He had reassured her many times that she shouldn't feel guilty, but he saw her eyes get glossy more often in his last semester in America than he had all his life. Now he was standing in London, feet on the ground, but his future in the air. If he found a job as a photographer all his problems would be solved. Because he was good at photography and really bad at everything else, including social interaction. To his credit, that's why he was studying it after all. He had tried working in cafés but he was better at drinking coffee than pouring it. No job had lasted him more than two days, because he was so clumsy. 

Once it was his turn he ordered a bubble tea, extra sweet. The cashier smiled brightly at him. Okay, maybe the bubble tea wasn't the only reason he came here so often. He was shorter than Johnny, but that wasn't really a surprise.   
"Not that I'm in a position to judge customers, but how can you even drink this?" The cashier put the lid on with a click and handed it to Johnny.   
"I like sweet things." Johnny tried to defend himself. Like you.  
The man laughed. "What's your name? I'm trying to remember all our regular customers."  
"I'm Johnny. I'm studying photography here."  
"I would have never guessed.", he pointed at the film camera Johnny had slung over his shoulder as always.   
You had one job, Johnny.  
"But actually I'm studying at UAL, too. I'm studying communication and graphic design."  
"That's so amazing. We can eat at the cafeteria together from now on. By the way, what's your name?"  
Johnny hadn't made a lot of friends yet, this was his chance.  
"I'm Baekhyun."   
"Baek- are you Korean? Me, too. Well, my parents. I was born in Chicago."   
"Ah, that explains the American accent."  
"I'm sorry how long is this going to take?" A voice behind Johnny asked. In his excitement, he had completely forgotten that there was a line behind him.  
"Just one second.", Baekhyun said to the girl. "I'll give you my number, then we can meet up sometime?" He scribbled the numbers on a piece of paper and handed it to Johnny.   
"See you around, sweetheart."

"You've gotta come to meet my friends. They already graduated a while ago, but you'll like them, they're also photographers."  
Baekhyun and Johnny had been texting back and forth for a few days now. Johnny still couldn't believe that he was now friends with Baekhyun. Maybe he could ask him out one day when he had built up enough courage. Baekhyun was already close to graduating and worked in the café in between courses.  
"Really? That's cool, we could meet Friday. I'm done at 5 pm. What about you?"

When Baekhyun had said he had photographer friends Johnny wasn't expecting to meet the two photographers he had looked up to most in his life. Minseok and Junmyeon were both roughly 5 years older than he was and one of the many reasons he had wanted to study at UAL. They had graduated only a few years ago, but their success spoke for itself. Junmyeon was a communication designer and Minseok had studied photography, just like Johnny. They managed to bring their Korean roots into their work, which is what made Johnny notice them at first. Even in university, they had been working together for every project that let them and they worked brilliantly as a team, if it was for their masters, which were corresponding, or now, that they were leading a reputable design agency. Call Johnny a romantic, but he wanted to find someone who matched him artistically and emotionally as well as Junmyeon and Minseok matched each other.

He had met Baekhyun at an Underground station close to the restaurant and immediately regretted not dressing up better. Unlike the pink apron Baekhyun wore to work, he was now wearing a cream-coloured silk shirt and black jeans. The dress shirt was not buttoned up to the top and Johnny could see the thin gold chains Baekhyun was wearing underneath.  
"Should I have dressed up? You didn't tell me that it was that fancy."  
Baekhyun laughed. "It's not fancy. I just felt like dressing up."  
Did he dress up for Johnny? Or someone else? 

They were meeting the others at a Korean restaurant, for which Johnny was grateful. He missed his mother's food. No, scratch that, he missed his mom.   
Baekhyun's friends were already sitting around the table but got up to greet Johnny, and that's when he recognized them.   
"Oh my god.", Johnny said softly as Minseok shook his hand.   
"I'm Minseok and this is my- this is Junmyeon."  
"Oh my god.", Johnny said again because he couldn't think.   
Minseok laughed. "I'm assuming you know us already?"  
"Yes, oh god. I'm so sorry. My name's Johnny. I've been following your work for years."  
Baekhyun groaned and Johnny could see him rolling his eyes.   
Junmyeon laughed. "I guess I don't need to introduce myself anymore then."  
"Wanna sit down?" Minseok asked, and while Johnny had found him attractive in pictures before, up-close he was even more breathtaking. They were both shorter than he had expected. Something that pictures also definitely couldn't catch either was the way Junmyeon held himself confidently, the way Minseok's eyes gleamed and the way al of their movements seemed to correspond.   
"Sit down, you fucking fanboy.", Baekhyun said.  
Next to him sat a man who was about as tall as Johnny, with the biggest ears he had ever seen.  
"Hi, I'm Chanyeol." He said with a big smile on his face.  
Why was everyone in this friend group so fucking attractive?  
"My name is Johnny."  
Baekhyun hugged Chanyeol to greet him and Johnny could hear Chanyeol whisper "Hello, Hyung, you look amazing today." in Korean.   
So that's who he was dressing up for. There goes his little crush. 

"Alright, what do you want to eat, Johnny? You get to choose because it's your first time with us." Junmyeon said and smiled kindly at him. Johnny almost melted.   
"I want meat- oh and doenjang jjigae."   
"Cute. Meat it is." Ever since he had stepped foot on London ground he had not felt so much at home as on that evening. He had forgotten super fast that Junmyeon and Minseok were actually his idols because they were so easy to talk to. And it helped that Baekhyun flung one of his chopsticks onto the grill and it ended up falling into the fire, which made Chanyeol laugh so hard he cried. Whipped.

At some point, they had all switched to speaking Korean.   
"By the way are you all older than I am?"  
"Well, which year were you born?", Junmyeon asked.   
"95."  
"Yes, you're the maknae now.", he laughed. "Don't worry we'll take care of you."  
"Yes, you'll be our baby now." Minseok agreed.  
Johnny blushed and buried his face in his hands.  
"You're like only half as tall as me. How dare you say something like that?"  
Minseok and Junmyeon laughed. 

Somehow Johnny's life had been turned upside down because he talked to Baekhyun that one time. It was not in a way he had expected, but it was definitely an improvement. He had friends now and they spend time with each other multiple times a week and it never felt like a chore. Social interaction often felt like chores to Johnny more often than not. But Baekhyun and his friends made him feel safe. Maybe it was because they were older than the people he studied with, but it wasn't just that. Maybe the people he had been friends with before had been assholes.

There were only tiny pinpricks of discomfort when he spent time with them. For one, Baekhyun was clearly taken and surprisingly Johnny could live with that quite well. Something he couldn't pin down tough was the way he felt when he was with Junmyeon and Minseok. It was weird knowing things about them when they didn't know anything about him. He felt like a stalker. And what made it worse was that they didn't seem so mind, that he knew about their lives. Many times he had wondered if they were dating and he couldn't come to a conclusion. 

Immediately when Johnny saw the letter in his mailbox the next morning he knew that it was not a good sign. Letters meant people wanted something and they usually wanted money and he still didn't have any.   
"We're sorry to inform you, that we're ending our contract with you. You've got three months to find a new place to live..."  
Fuck. He knew this was coming because he had been late on rent more often than not, but he didn't know soon it was going to be now. Not when he had just made friends and everything was going fairly well. Breathe, Johnny. Breathe, for fuck's sake. 

After a tiny breakdown in the kitchen of the dorms. He decided to be rational. He could solve this problem. He could, he had promised his mom- he wanted to tell her how shitty he felt but he couldn't as she would only feel guilty.  
He could ask Baekhyun, but Baekhyun was also living in dorms and he would have to hide Johnny there. They could do it for a few days, but then he would have to find something else.   
He could break into one of the university buildings- but really Johnny didn't know how to break into anything. And eventually, he would be found out. Fuck.  
He had tried finding a job, he had. But now it was too late and everything was going downhill.

There was a clock ticking in Johnny's mind constantly now. he had spent more time with Baekhyun and his friends and today there were coming to the bubble tea place Baekhyun worked because his shift was quite long and no one was in the mood to wait for him so they just met him there. Johnny came before anyone else because for him it was just a short walk across the street. It was raining a little bit, but Johnny didn't mind. It felt like one of those summer rains that wash every worry away and cleanse everything. For a second he stood still and breathed the fresh air. He looked up and let the rain hit his face. He felt light and he wanted to let go.

"Johnny come inside it's raining." Baekhyun had opened the door of the cafe, an umbrella in his right hand.   
"I don't mind." He said and Baekhyun looked at him for a moment, considering.   
Then he said softly. "Come inside, I don't want you to get sick."

Baekyhun wordlessly made him hot cocoa and Johnny could see him add extra chocolate.   
"On the house.", he said when he handed it to Johnny.  
"Thank you.", Johnny answered and he meant for much more than just the cocoa, but couldn't find the right expressions for anything else. He hoped Baekhyun would know.   
"I need a new place to stay.", Johnny said honestly. He was staring at the pink cup.   
"Did something happen?"  
"I'm out of money. I was expecting it, so it's not a surprise."  
Baekhyun's eyebrows furrowed.  
"How much time do you have?"  
"3 months until I need to move out, but I already know I won't be able to pay the rent of those months."  
"It's okay, Johnny. I've got an idea and even if that one doesn't work we'll figure something out."  
"Okay, what's your idea, Baek?"  
"I've got to ask first then I'll tell you. I don't want to promise anything, but I don't see why this couldn't work out." He smiled and Johnny tried to be as hopeful as Baekhyun.

"Johnny, could you stay a bit longer. I'd like to talk to you." Professor Mayer said to him after his photography class.  
"Okay, yeah, sure. What is it?"   
Fuck, fuck, fuck. What if he was failing? This was his favourite course, he couldn't fail this one.  
"Oh don't look at me like that. You've got nothing to worry about. You're one of my best students. So I signed you up for a photography competition. The prize is a fully paid scholarship. I think this would be a great opportunity for you to show your talents. I'm sorry I signed you up without permission but it had to be done fast."  
"No that's perfectly fine. I would love to participate. Are there any criteria for the photos?"  
"I'm glad you're interested. The competitors are supposed to shoot a black and white series that shows a politically important topic. The composition is just as important as the story of the pictures.   
This scholarship could solve all of his problems, so he would have to give it his all, become the best and win the prize. He would give anything to stay in London.

"They said yes." Baekhyun almost screamed at him when Johnny entered the cafe after uni.  
"Who said yes to what?", Johnny asked peeling Baekhyun out of his arms.   
"Minseok and Junmyeon, they'll take you in. They are the only ones who own a flat on their own and they could help you out money-wise, too."  
"No." Johnny stopped Baekhyun.  
"What? But it's perfect. You can learn something from them and fresh ideas would help them too."  
"No, Baekhyun. I can't just invade their privacy and live off their money."  
"Johnny, they agreed and they wouldn't have done that if it wasn't something they wanted. Do they seem like they would do anything just to please anyone? And if you're worried about money, first of all, you would pay them back, in some way or the other. And two, they were excited to have you with them."  
"But don't they think I'm a stalker?"  
Baekhyun just rolled his eyes.   
"I showed them the pictures you posted on Instagram. They want you to work for them, it's not like you'll be their sugar baby or something."  
Johnny hated that Baekhyun had found his weak point immediately. He didn't want it to seem like he was trying to get into their pants for the money or just because they were his idols.   
"I think I need to talk to them first to make sure.", Johnny said. "But thank you for asking them."

Johnny decided to text Minseok, asking to meet them in a café that Baekhyun didn't work in. As he was waiting for them his fingers started shaking. He was so desperate and he thought about the sugar baby thing again. He would sell his body to stay here and if it was with them he wouldn't even mind. Immediately he hated this thought. Try not to hate yourself too much, Johnny, he told himself sadly. For once think of yourself as someone worthy.   
He wanted to cry, how could he be someone worthy if he was about to sell himself. Minseok and Junmyeon were nice and he trusted them even though it still felt like he was about to give up on himself.   
"Johnny?" a voice asked, so he wiped the tears out of his eyes as inconspicuous as possible. It was them.   
"Sit down, please. I need to talk to you about something."  
"Is this about what Baekhyun asked us? Because you can stay with us if you'd like. We've got a guest room." Junmyeon said.   
"Yeah, it's no problem.", Minseok agreed.  
"I don't know if I'll be able to pay you back..." Johnny said.  
Minseok smiled. "And what if you don't have to? You can work with us for a bit but you don't have to, the room is usually empty, so we've got nothing to lose."  
"But that's not fair, you get nothing out of it."  
"Of course we do, we get your company. Isn't that enough?" Junmyeon said in a soft tone.  
"Are you two not scared I'm a stalker?"  
Minseok laughed. "If you were you would be the most incompetent stalker in the world. Come with us. We can show you the studio in our flat."  
"You have a studio?", Johnny was intrigued.  
"Yes, does that mean you're coming?"  
"I'll pay you back, I swear."  
They just smiled at him and he was going to melt. 

They walked over to their flat. Minseok on Johnny's left side, Junmyeon on his right. The building seemed to consist mainly of big windows, black brick walls, and the most beautiful ancient door.   
"The door doesn't close that well so you really gotta pull it closed behind you.", Junmyeon said.  
"Okay, got it."  
They walked up the stairs to the second floor, almost every step creaked.  
"This house is exactly what I thought London was going to be like.", Johnny said dreamily.  
Junmyeon opened their door. "I'll give you a tour real quick. You can put your shoes here." He pointed to a small cupboard. "Minseok, can you make some tea?"  
Junmyeon leads him through the flat, his hand in the small of Johnny's back.   
"The door to the left is the bathroom, that one is our bedroom and the studio is here." He opened the door. There were two desks with laptops and a ridiculous amount of paperwork.   
Their bedroom, there was no way they weren't dating.  
"That door leads to the darkroom because Minseok is a bitch for analogue photography." Johnny laughed.  
"That doesn't surprise me, but I actually haven't seen a lot of his films?"  
"Yeah, that's because our customers usually need digital photos so that they can be printed. I mean he could scan them, too, but he says it's not worth the extra mile so now he just takes them for fun."  
"Can I see them, please?"   
Junmyeon laughed at his eagerness. "You'll have to ask him that. The guest bedroom is here." He opened the door next to the studio.   
"Don't be afraid to ask for anything if you need it. I'll give you a key later."

Baekhyun helped Johnny carry his stuff over to Junmyeon's and Minseok's. It wasn't much, but at least he didn't have to walk twice now. Just his notes and books, cameras and the 2.5 shirts he took to London with him. Minseok and Junmyeon worked from home, which was nice. Johnny thought that it would have been weird being in their home while they weren't there. Junmyeon had given him a spare key the day before so now he could open the door by himself, then they dragged Johnny's stuff upstairs.


	2. May

Johnny had been visiting Baekhyun at work again or maybe he just wanted a bubble tea. It was raining and he had forgotten his umbrella, after all, it had seemed sunny this morning. And now here he was, completely soaked, standing in the door of the café.   
"This feels kind of like a deja-vu.", Baekhyun said when he looked up from the dishes he was washing.   
Johnny laughed. "Do you have an umbrella? I don't think this is going to stop anytime soon and I need to get home to keep working."  
Baekhyun nodded and pointed to the umbrella stand near the door.   
"You can take the big black one, it's been here forever, so I think someone forgot it here once."  
"Great. By the way, how is Chanyeol?"  
Johnny wiggled his eyebrows.   
"Cute as always.", Baekhyun said. "How are Junmyeon and Minseok?", he also wiggled his eyebrows.  
"I have no idea why you are doing that, nothing is going on. And they seem to be doing fine."  
Baekhyun laughed. "Yeah, right."  
"Anyways, see you around, Baek. "  
"Bye. Give them my regards."  
"Will do." And with that, he was back out in the rain.   
What the fuck did Baekhyun mean? There was nothing unusual going on. Maybe Baek knew something he didn't, but what could that be?   
Johnny had been so in thought that he fell over something sitting on the sidewalk. The something meowed, it was a tiny white ball of fluff.   
The small cat was completely soaked. Johnny let it sniff his hand, once he was sure it wasn't scared he petted the cats head. It started purring and his heart melted. Within a second he made a decision.

"It didn't have a collar.", Johnny said hurriedly once Minseok opened the door for him. "It was completely soaked and I couldn't just leave it there, it's shaking."  
Minseok smiled and took the kitten out of Johnny's hands. Johnny had kept the umbrella stuck under his chin because he didn't have a free hand anymore, it was starting to cramp up.   
"Put the umbrella down first. I'll take care of this little one."  
Minseok made hot tea for Johnny and warm milk for the cat. Minseok gave Johnny a big blanket and a tiny blanket for the cat and patted them both dry and maybe Johnny was in love. 

Minseok and Junmyeon took the cat in just as they had with Johnny, taking care of her and never questioning her being there. Junmyeon had been out grocery shopping and when he came back to find a big Johnny and a tiny cat both curled up on the sofa wrapped in blankets, sleeping. He petted the cat, gaining her trust and let his fingers run through Johnny's hair. Johnny slowly opened his eyes.   
"Who is this?" Junmyeon asked softly and pointed at the cat curled up in Johnny's arms.  
"I named her Pink." He hoped that this would explain enough.  
"Okay, keep sleeping, sweetheart.", he whispered, letting his hand run trough Johnny's curls one last time. And maybe Johnny was in love with Junmyeon, too. 

"I think I might be in love.", Minseok said as they were lying in bed together.  
"Of course you are. I am gorgeous.", Junmyeon answered without looking up from his book.  
"No, I mean Johnny."  
"Ah."   
Junmyeon put down his book.   
"Come here, Seok." Minseok crawled over into his open arms.  
"Wanna know a secret? Me, too."  
"Do you think we have a chance?"  
"We'll never know if we don't try."  
"But what if we ruin it? He doesn't have anywhere to go then."  
"We'll figure something out."  
Suddenly Minseok smiled. "Do you remember Sehun?"  
Junmyeon rolled his eyes. "Of course I remember. How could I forget?"  
"Actually now that I think about it, they're kind of similar, don't you think? Tall, cute boys, who need our help."  
"I think we might have a type."  
Minseok laughed and pressed a kiss on Junmyeon's cheek.   
"You know what's also similar about them? They're both subs." Minseok grinned.  
"You don't know that. You have no idea what Johnny likes, god he might be a dom, or just not interested in our kind of fucked-up mind games."  
"Yeah, right. The way Johnny always blushes, whenever we talk to him? Total dom behaviour.", Minseok said sarcastically.  
"He's still young and maybe inexperienced. Also, why are we suddenly talking about this, there's no way we can figure this out. We'd have to talk to him and we won't scare him away like that, so stop grinning, Minseok."  
Minseok placed a kiss on Junmyeon's neck and whispered.   
"Imagine him on his knees looking up at you, pouting with his pretty lips and a blush on his cheeks."  
"God."   
Minseok bit into the skin on Junmyeon's neck, knees on either side of Junmyeon's waist, rolling his hips forward.   
"You're killing me."

As the semester got more stressful, Johnny had gotten used to coming home to the flat late, with no one awake anymore. He had a paper due soon and then he had worked in the photo studio for one of his assignments. He had meant to start working on the scholarship photoshoot but he just couldn't think of a concept for it, so he put if off yet once more, and decided to go home. Or well, was it home? Could he call it that? Did he have a right to? Junmyeon and Minseok took Pink and him in without question. It definitely felt more home than the clinically clean dorms he used to live in. And waking up to Junmyeon making breakfast every morning made him feel warm. 

He saw the light from the open bedroom door before he heard them. Junmyeon was whispering sweet things, Johnny didn't even need to understand every syllable to understand what was going on, then Minseok moaned. Fuck.  
As fast as he could he tip-toed to his room. Fuck. Fuck.   
Once he had the door to his room closed behind him, he breathed.   
Tomorrow he was going to pretend he came home very late. And for now, he got out his headphones. His heart was still beating.   
He was just going to forget that this ever happened, except he couldn't.  
What exactly were they doing?  
So here he was lying on his bed pressing his headphones deeper into his ear. He didn't want to think about them this way when they had been nothing but nice to him. He wasn't going to disrespect them and he knew that if he took his headphones out now, he would never be able to look into their eyes again. 

He asked Minseok the next morning about his film photography, thinking it would be a distraction. It ended up making it worse.   
"He had already asked when I showed him the studio. But I said it was your decision.", Junmyeon said.   
Minseok looked at Junmyeon thoughtfully. The morning sun lit up their profiles, Johnny wanted to take a photo.   
"It's your decision, too."  
"You can show him."  
"Alright, then. Johnny, I'll show you after breakfast."

The room was entirely black, but of course, it was if Minseok was developing his films in here, but it still surprised Johnny, as everything else in the house was filled with sunlight during the day. Then Minseok turned on the light, the room was tiny. It made sense, as it was probably not used that often and it was harder to keep a room with more windows completely dark. Minseok walked over to a shelf with boxes. They were marked with black sharpie and in sloppy handwriting. He pulled out one that said 2018, it had already collected a little bit of dust and Minseok brushed it off with his hand.   
"Are you sure you want to see them, Johnny?" Minseok asked uncertainly.  
"Yeah, of course I want to." Why would he suddenly not want to see them anymore?  
Minseok glanced at Junmyeon one last time, then he opened the box. The photos were sorted into months. Minseok rummaged a bit, then he chose July and handed it to Johnny. The pictures were in black and white, the first one was lips. For a second Johnny thought he recognized someone but chose to look at the next picture instead. Minseok was standing on his left and Junmyeon on his right. They weren't looking at the photos in his hand they seemed to look at him instead, checking for a reaction. The next picture was a man's back, the model was lying on white sheets. The next one was an eye. It was slowly dawing on Johnny who this was. He flipped the photos faster. Lips, slightly swollen, next one, a neck with bruises, hickeys, then two hands intertwined. Someone's hands digging into someone else's bare waist. Johnny's breath hitched. The last picture was a portrait. It was Junmyeon, smiling wholeheartedly, his eyes closed.  
"Fuck.", he said because he couldn't think of anything else and they were still looking at him.   
"So what do you think of them?" Minseok asked and Johnny could hear the smugness in his voice even without looking at him.   
"Hyung looks so pretty.", he was somehow breathless.   
"He does, doesn't he?", Minseok said.  
Junmyeon let out a hiss.   
"Seok." A warning.  
"Hope you found them inspiring, Johnny. If you want to see more just ask."  
Minseok took Junmyeon's hand and pulled him out of the room. Once they were gone Johnny sank to his knees. This was not what he had been expecting. 

"Can I see more of them?", Johnny asked a few days later. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about them. "I think it might be good to see how you told stories in your photos, Hyung."  
Minseok grinned. They both knew this was bullshit, but Johnny just had to see more photos. There must be so many, judging by the number of boxes he saw. It wasn't a complete lie though. The photos were taken in an extremely gorgeous way, there was nothing trashy about them.   
"I'll show you later, sweetheart."

By the time it was evening and the sun had gone down, they were all sitting on Junmyeon's and Minseok's bed, boxes and photos spread all over the dark blue duvet.  
"We'll start in the beginning, shall we?" Minseok was sitting on the bed, crawling around to pick up the photos. He took one box, it said 2014.  
"This was in university.", Junmyeon was sitting on Johnny's other side. Why did they always do this? They had the possibility to sit next to each other but they never did, they always put him in their middle.  
"There's a lot of alcohol involved in taking these.", Minseok grinned.  
And he was right. The first pictures were almost all blurry, but a few were pretty clear. A very young Junmyeon drinking some sort of alcohol. The next one showed a hand, probably Minseok's in his hair. Then Junmyeon making out with someone else.  
"Huh? Weren't you already dating back then?"  
Junmyeon laughed. "No, we were. Just keep going."  
The next one was Junmyeon wrapping his arms around the taller, unnamed boy, both facing the camera. The photographer, Minseok, had his hands on the boy's neck. Intentional bruises peeking out under his fingers. Johnny took a moment to understand, then he rolled his eyes.   
"Everyone does shit like that in college."  
"No, this wasn't a one-time thing. Sehun was our boyfriend. It just didn't end well.", Junmyeon gritted his teeth and his eyes had become cold.   
"Oh don't be that hard on him. It's been years and it wasn't just his fault it didn't work. It was your fault, too.", Minseok was clearly annoyed, it seemed they had had this conversation more than once.  
"I didn't know you were interested in having more partners.", Johnny said in a small voice.   
They both looked at him.   
Slowly and with intent Minseok said:  
"I thought we had made that very obvious."  
Junmyeon smiled at Johnny.  
"You should sleep, sweetheart. It's late and it'll give you to think. You don't need to answer. If you say, you don't want this, then we'll pretend it never happened." Junmyeon got up and took Johnny's hand to pull him up. He had led him to his bedroom, when they were standing in front of the door he got on his tip-toes and gave Johnny a kiss on his cheek.   
"Good night, love."


	3. June

Suddenly it was easy for Johnny to finish his scholarship project. If he was being honest, it kept him from thinking and from seeing Junmyeon and Minseok and he wasn't ready to do either. The day he uploaded his last project for this semester seemed was also the day he lost his sanity. Suddenly he had nothing to do anymore. He went from working all day and sleeping 3 hours to having nothing to do and sleeping 10 hours. His body wasn't grateful, so on his first free day, he went to Baekhyun's cafe.   
His body was probably even less grateful for the extra sweet bubble tea he ordered, but he figured he deserved it after finishing all his assignments on time. There weren't any customers so Baekhyun sat down next to him.  
"I haven't seen you around in a while."  
"I'm sorry about that, I was busy finishing all of my projects and the scholarship shoot had to be done as well."  
"And how did it go?"  
Johnny shrugged. "Well, it's done."  
"Knowing you, it's probably better than you think."  
"Yeah, but still not good enough to win the scholarship."  
"What will you do if you don't win it?"  
"Either go back to America or–" He couldn't even say it.   
"Or what?" Baekhyun urged. "Johnny what? You want to stay here, don't you?"  
"Worse. It would break me if I left."  
"Johnny. Tell me what the other option is?"  
Johnny peeled off the label on his cup.   
"The other option is to figure out how I feel about Junmyeon and Minseok."  
"Ah. Give me a second to think."  
Baekhyun sipped on his bubble tea, then he asked: "They asked you out?"  
"More or less."  
"And do you like them?"  
"Everything's just so messy. I don't know where the lines are. I feel safe with them. I'm scared they think I'm doing this just so I can stay with them longer. And I'm scared that I am doing it for that reason, too."  
"Then maybe you should tell them exactly what you just told me. They'll understand you better then. But you'll have to face them sooner or later, Johnny."  
"What if I waited until after I know if I have the scholarship? I can't start anything if I know I might have to leave."  
"Well, when is that?"  
"In two weeks. All the projects will be shown and then there's a ceremony."  
"Invite them, they'll understand why you're waiting until then."

"I might be able to pay you back soon. If I win the scholarship I am fully transferring universities to finish my bachelor here and if I don't I will go back to America. The winner will be announced in a few days and I would like to invite you so that you'll know immediately."  
They were having dinner, Minseok had cooked and Johnny had been waiting for the right moment. There was no right moment, so he just said it.   
"If you don't win it-", Junmyeon swallowed. "Do you think you will come back once?"  
"I don't know.", he said honestly. "But I want to stay here, with you."  
"Oh, sweetheart. We want you to stay, too. Come here."  
Junmyeon got up and opened his arms. Johnny had to lean down to let Junmyeon hug him. Junmyeon started running his fingers through Johnny's hair.  
"Even if you wouldn't win the scholarship, we could find a possibility."  
"No, I wouldn't want to keep living off your money without ever being able to give it back."  
"Oh, for fuck's sake, what else are we supposed to do with that money?", Minseok asked, he had gotten up and he was pacing up and down the room. "Pink needs you here.", he pointed at the cat sleeping on the sofa.  
"I know that you don't mind. But I mind. I hate that I always feel like I'm using you and I would like to be independent, money-wise."  
"I understand.", Junmyeon said. "But you were never using us and we always got something in return. You were great company, even though that's not something that can be paid for. And you were an inspiration to both of us, helping us out of slumps and giving a new perspective on our work."  
"Can I kiss you?", Minseok asked quietly. He was standing next to Johnny now. "I want to kiss you at least once before – before you might need to go."  
Johnny nodded slowly.   
"I need to hear you say it, love."  
"Yes, please kiss me." Minseok leaned forward and Junmyeon was still holding him in his arms. Minseok wrapped a hand around Johnny's neck, then he pulled him down for a kiss. Junmyeon kissed him, too, wiping tears out of the corner of Johnny's eyes. He hadn't even noticed that he had started to cry.


	4. Epilogue

Johnny had moved back in the dorms for a semester, they were still as cold and clinical as he remembered, but soon after a few weeks, he realized that he spent most of his time at Minseok's and Junmyeon's and after a few months they asked him to move in. He had been visiting some friends in the dorms and upon seeing the rooms he suddenly remembered what he had felt like when he had just come to London. He got a little queasy, thinking about his past self. He had come a long way and for realizing that alone, it was good that he had come by. It could've gone so, so wrong and the fact that it didn't was only luck and Baekhyun's doing. He wished he could say that it was hard work and it definitely played a part in it or else he would have never gotten the scholarship, but at the end of the day, he only got a happy ending because of his new friends and then of course because of Junmyeon and Minseok. Minseok and Junmyeon. They were his happy ending.


End file.
